I was unable to verify the last two digits of the serial number
when I looked in recent weeks (the visible digits having scraped off
and not having a bar code reader) or I'd give its specific ID.

A 2001 model,the last of the model years that model was produced,
my mother bought it for our property circa 2003 after a Herbert
Hoffman (or some spelling variant) had traded it in to Adams Power
Equipment for a zero-turn mower.

First she used it,then I did...we got it with 150 hours on it and
the last number I checked in recent days was 677.

Yesterday I was mowing,there were occasional stalling issues...and
I noticed smoke and a spark coming from the engine compartment.I
stopped restarting after the stalls,took the key out.

I saw a lick of flame from the engine compartment,and got off the seat;
I quickly lifted the hood a bit in case something had gotten in there
that was burning because of captured heat that might stop burning if
heat wasn't captured,and quickly walked away.

The fire and smoke spread.After feeding Ilene's cat in her empty
apartment I looked for an apartment where someone had a phone since
my cellphone was home on the charger;the tenant I found dialed 911
and I reported the fire,now engulfing the tractor which fortunately
was in the field far from trees or buildings.

Local fire and police departments responded and the fire was soon
extinguished,but I will miss the tractor and its 60-inch mowing deck.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

Louis Epstein <le@top.put.com> wrote:
> I was unable to verify the last two digits of the serial number
> when I looked in recent weeks (the visible digits having scraped off
> and not having a bar code reader) or I'd give its specific ID.
>
> A 2001 model,the last of the model years that model was produced,
> my mother bought it for our property circa 2003 after a Herbert
> Hoffman (or some spelling variant) had traded it in to Adams Power
> Equipment for a zero-turn mower.
>
> First she used it,then I did...we got it with 150 hours on it and
> the last number I checked in recent days was 677.
>
> Yesterday I was mowing,there were occasional stalling issues...and
> I noticed smoke and a spark coming from the engine compartment.I
> stopped restarting after the stalls,took the key out.
>
> I saw a lick of flame from the engine compartment,and got off the seat;
> I quickly lifted the hood a bit in case something had gotten in there
> that was burning because of captured heat that might stop burning if
> heat wasn't captured,and quickly walked away.
>
> The fire and smoke spread.After feeding Ilene's cat in her empty
> apartment I looked for an apartment where someone had a phone since
> my cellphone was home on the charger;the tenant I found dialed 911
> and I reported the fire,now engulfing the tractor which fortunately
> was in the field far from trees or buildings.
>
> Local fire and police departments responded and the fire was soon
> extinguished,but I will miss the tractor and its 60-inch mowing deck.

An incidental casualty was an Ace Hardware Drop Forged Bypass
Lopping Shears I carried on the tractor and had used for years.
> -=-=-
> The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
> at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

On Sun, 24 Oct 2021 23:39:35 -0000 (UTC), Louis Epstein
<le@top.put.com> wrote:

>Louis Epstein <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>> I was unable to verify the last two digits of the serial number
>> when I looked in recent weeks (the visible digits having scraped off
>> and not having a bar code reader) or I'd give its specific ID.
>>
>> A 2001 model,the last of the model years that model was produced,
>> my mother bought it for our property circa 2003 after a Herbert
>> Hoffman (or some spelling variant) had traded it in to Adams Power
>> Equipment for a zero-turn mower.
>>
>> First she used it,then I did...we got it with 150 hours on it and
>> the last number I checked in recent days was 677.
>>
>> Yesterday I was mowing,there were occasional stalling issues...and
>> I noticed smoke and a spark coming from the engine compartment.I
>> stopped restarting after the stalls,took the key out.
>>
>> I saw a lick of flame from the engine compartment,and got off the seat;
>> I quickly lifted the hood a bit in case something had gotten in there
>> that was burning because of captured heat that might stop burning if
>> heat wasn't captured,and quickly walked away.
>>
>> The fire and smoke spread.After feeding Ilene's cat in her empty
>> apartment I looked for an apartment where someone had a phone since
>> my cellphone was home on the charger;the tenant I found dialed 911
>> and I reported the fire,now engulfing the tractor which fortunately
>> was in the field far from trees or buildings.
>>
>> Local fire and police departments responded and the fire was soon
>> extinguished,but I will miss the tractor and its 60-inch mowing deck.
>
>An incidental casualty was an Ace Hardware Drop Forged Bypass
>Lopping Shears I carried on the tractor and had used for years.
>
>> -=-=-
>> The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
>> at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

I definitely feel your pain with this one. I had a car stolen from me
about 10 years ago. I bought it new and drove it for almost 20 years.
The odometer quit working around 225,000 miles but I could give an
estimate with my driving habits and gas consumption that it had around
425,000 on it when stolen. The strange part about this tale is that,
for reasons I can't recall, I had a pair of Craftsman lopping shears
in the back of the car when it was stolen. I'm guessing I had those
for about 25-30 years.

John M. <jcm1139TRASH@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Oct 2021 23:39:35 -0000 (UTC), Louis Epstein
> <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>
>>Louis Epstein <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>>> I was unable to verify the last two digits of the serial number
>>> when I looked in recent weeks (the visible digits having scraped off
>>> and not having a bar code reader) or I'd give its specific ID.
>>>
>>> A 2001 model,the last of the model years that model was produced,
>>> my mother bought it for our property circa 2003 after a Herbert
>>> Hoffman (or some spelling variant) had traded it in to Adams Power
>>> Equipment for a zero-turn mower.
>>>
>>> First she used it,then I did...we got it with 150 hours on it and
>>> the last number I checked in recent days was 677.
>>>
>>> Yesterday I was mowing,there were occasional stalling issues...and
>>> I noticed smoke and a spark coming from the engine compartment.I
>>> stopped restarting after the stalls,took the key out.
>>>
>>> I saw a lick of flame from the engine compartment,and got off the seat;
>>> I quickly lifted the hood a bit in case something had gotten in there
>>> that was burning because of captured heat that might stop burning if
>>> heat wasn't captured,and quickly walked away.
>>>
>>> The fire and smoke spread.After feeding Ilene's cat in her empty
>>> apartment I looked for an apartment where someone had a phone since
>>> my cellphone was home on the charger;the tenant I found dialed 911
>>> and I reported the fire,now engulfing the tractor which fortunately
>>> was in the field far from trees or buildings.
>>>
>>> Local fire and police departments responded and the fire was soon
>>> extinguished,but I will miss the tractor and its 60-inch mowing deck.
>>
>>An incidental casualty was an Ace Hardware Drop Forged Bypass
>>Lopping Shears I carried on the tractor and had used for years.
>>
>
> I definitely feel your pain with this one. I had a car stolen from me
> about 10 years ago. I bought it new and drove it for almost 20 years.
> The odometer quit working around 225,000 miles but I could give an
> estimate with my driving habits and gas consumption that it had around
> 425,000 on it when stolen. The strange part about this tale is that,
> for reasons I can't recall, I had a pair of Craftsman lopping shears
> in the back of the car when it was stolen. I'm guessing I had those
> for about 25-30 years.

I have other shears,but it looks like a comparable tractor would
cost into five figures,even used.

>>> -=-=-
>>> The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
>>> at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.